The Closer: Delmon Young Receives Welcoming Gift

Notes from a day in baseball:

• 1. Young Love. The White Sox beat the Devil Rays 12-9, as Chicago supplanted Minnesota as the leader in the AL wild-card race. But we were more interested in watching bat-tossing wunderkind Delmon Young, who went 2-for-3 in his major league debut for Tampa Bay. And what a debut ... in his first major league at-bat, Young was booed, and then drilled in the back/left arm on the first pitch by Freddy Garcia. So what, Ozzie Guillen was pals with the minor league umpire whom Young hit two months ago (for which he drew a 50-game suspension)? Young knocked a home run in his third plate appearance.

• 2. Goodbye, Happy Streak. Jason Lane had plenty of offense in his bat (a pinch grand slam in the eighth), but Willy Taveras went 0-for-3, ending his hitting streak at 30 games. Anyway, the Astros continued their futile inspiring NL wild card bid with a 10-3 win over Milwaukee.

• 3. Oh Love! Oh Life! There Is No Life, But My Love Is Dead!. We are not even amused by the prospect of saying "Dan Uggla," because, you know, he homered and drove in four runs as the Marlins won their ninth straight, beating the Cardinals and The Rotting Corpse Of Mark Mulder, 9-1.

• 4. Barry Ball. Blasphemy in Atlanta! Hammerin' Hank set the all-time home run record here, and now Barry Bonds hit stwo home runs — his first multi-homer game since 2004 — to come within 28 of the mark. Sadly, te Giants forgot to win, losing 13-8.

• 5. Von Ryan's Express. Attention citizens of Philadelphia: Ryan Howard has tied Mike Schmidt. Repeat, Schmidt is no longer the sole single-season home run lead ... hey! Who threw that thermos?!